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2.26.2007

Chaga and cancer

Medicinal mushrooms have a long history of use for modulating immunity, protecting against cancer, and just generally strengthening the system (see, for instance, Rebecca's post on shiitakes). I spend long hours all year round looking for polypores (shelf-mushrooms, generally) in the woods around here, and there is one that can be found and harvested any time of year: the Chaga mushroom, also known as the Clinker polypore, or Inonotus obliquus in the old tongue. Folk medicine, especially in Siberia where these birch-loving fungi grow in abundance, has long regarded the Chaga as a premiere anti-cancer remedy. I generally find it growing on members of the Betula genus (birches, most often golden birches), often ones that are a bit sick. The Chaga almost looks like a cancerous outgrowth from the bark of these trees - an interesting signature. Some have speculated that the fungus acts somewhat as a processing lab for the betulin in birches, a compound that has received much attention as an anti-cancer agent.I have used Chaga extensively, along with other mushrooms, to support comprehensive protocols for cancer management. Recently, scientific evidence has been building on this particular fungus. Hopefully soon we will get some human data, but for now here's a brief roundup:

I use a custom-made double extract of Chaga in my practice. The mushrooms are harvested, stored for a few weeks (not really to dry them, just to get them a bit 'cured') and then divided into two equal portions. You will need a good, sharp saw to cut it in half, and then a heavy hammer / hatchet to chop them up into manageable chunks (about the size of an almond). I steep the first half in a menstruum (solvent) made of 70% alcohol, 20% water, and 10% vegetable glycerin (in a 1:5 ratio, weight of Chaga to volume of menstruum). This tincture favors the phenolic compounds listed in the first study above. After 4-6 weeks of steeping, I strain the tincture and set it aside.The second half (saved now for many weeks) I place in a crockpot with twice the volume of water as the volume of the strained tincture, and set it to a slow cook for about 48 hours. The goal is to cook it down and strain it so the amount of water extract equals the amount of strained tincture (add water during the cooking process if necessary). Finally, let everything cool down to room temperature, and whisk the two extracts together. Final alcohol percentage is 35%. The color: mahogany brown, beautiful and rich. The flavor: bittersweet, deep and woody, with overtones of humus. Strong healing medicine!

11 comments:

I enjoyed your article on chaga. This is topic my fiends and I are interested in. I added your post to our social group for them to read at Primitive Roots. If this is not okay with let me know and I will remove it. If is okay, thank you for the information, we greatly appreciate. Joyfully, Candi

Alcohol greatly reduces the potency of the 215 phytonutrients found naturally in chaga. Chaga International uses a more suitable low temperature, low pressure water extraction method that literally takes days to perform to ensure the preservation of the precious nutrients. Learn more at www.MyChaga.com/info

Chaga Mushroom also known as inonotus obliquus in scientific terms is a mushroom that grows on birch trees. Unlike other mushrooms that draw their nutrients from the soil, this mushroom draws its nutrients from the birch tree. Other than drawing its nutrients from trees, another unique feature of this mushroom is that it’s usually hard instead of soft like other mushrooms. The insides of chaga have the color of rusted iron and the veins are cream-colored. The texture of the mushroom is cork-like and it has a charcoal-like appearance.

I do mine a little differently. I first take a cold pressing for enzymes harmed by heat. Then do the decoction. I then freeze those for 2 or 3 months while the tincture ripens. I heat it first to access constituents that require heat to get through the chitin (with alcohol). Like you, I use the classic 5:1 ratio. 1 lb yields about a gallon.

I do mine a little differently. I first take a cold pressing for enzymes harmed by heat. Then do the decoction. I then freeze those for 2 or 3 months while the tincture ripens. I heat it first to access constituents that require heat to get through the chitin (with alcohol). Like you, I use the classic 5:1 ratio. 1 lb yields about a gallon.